But who
had been pulled down in the shallows--some one sent out from the Queen
with a message?
Dane raced back along the reef, not waiting to pull up his torch, and
before he reached the shore Rip was overtaking him. But the man who lay
groaning on the sand was not from the Queen. The torn and bloodstained
tunic covering his lacerated shoulders had the I-S badge. Ali was already
at work on his wounds, giving temporary first aid from his belt kit. To
all their questions he was stubbornly silent--either he couldn't or
wouldn't answer.
In the end they helped the Salariki rig three stretchers. On one the
largest, the captive gorp, still curled in a round carapace protected
ball, was bound with the net. The second supported the wounded Salarik
clansman and onto the third the Terrans lifted the I-S man.
"We'll deliver him to his own ship," Rip decided. "He must have tailed us
here as a spy--" He asked a passing Salarik as to where they could find
the Company spacer.
"They might just think we are responsible," Ali pointed out. "But I see
your point. If we do pack him back to the Queen and he doesn't make it,
they might say that we fired his rockets for him.
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